Time to Hit the (Wine) Trail!!!!!!! - Batavia, NY
Batavia, NY
Where I stayed
Holiday Inn Express Batavia NY
What I did
Seneca Lake Wine Trail, Watkins Glen Speedway
Tuesday September 3.......We decided to forego the continental breakfast offering at Microtel. This was probably our least favorite hotel. It was pretty new and nothing really wrong, just OK. I had researched breakfast joints on Tripadvisor and Yelp. One place stood out from the reviews. We headed over to Water St. Cafe, which for some unknown reason is on Exchange St. It was a local favorite for sure as most everyone seemed to know each other. Old fashioned counter and booths and it seemed that they made most everything from scratch. Service was a bit slow, but the food was awesome. I would definitely recommend this place.
Time to hit the (wine) trail. Seneca Lake is about 30 miles long and very narrow, like a finger. Since there are other similar lakes nearby they are collectively called the Finger Lakes. Route 14 takes you down the western side to Watkins Glen. Armed with the official Wine Trail Guide (which only lists some of the close to 100 wineries around the lake) we were off. Belhurst Castle was first. A beautiful estate overlooking the lake. Our next stop was at White Springs Winery. We had the place to ourselves (It was only about 10 am). We tasted a few wines. It is also a microbrewery and we sampled a couple of beers and a homemade root beer as well. We had a nice chat with Roger and we purchased a bottle of wine.
Like I said there were a lot of choices so we picked a few and headed down the road. We stopped at Earle Estates Winery and Meadery and the affiliated Torrey Ridge which makes Redneck Wines. I left the tastings here to Karen (somebodys gotta drive). We ended up with a bottle of Honey Mead. A short drive and we arrived at Miles Wine Cellars in another beautiful old estate right on the lake. Karen tasted some more wine there and also they were making wine slushies. Seems dangerous to me, but she did like it. They let you keep the glass...Bonus. Karen also picked up a pair of wine bottle earrings.
We then headed south into the sleepy village of Watkins Glen. I had Garmin set to take me to the speedway. We found it (in the middle of nowhere) just as it was starting to rain. We could hear cars on the track. We left to tour another winery nearby and as we left I saw a sign that said admission was free today. After our winery tour we drove back over. The guy at the gate was great and he directed us where we were allowed to go. We could drive right up to the Argetsinger Grandstand and park. There was a NASCAR show car parked there as well. This is located right at the exit of pit road between turn 1 and the famous esses. I was a happy camper. There was a variety of cars on the track. Vettes, Mustangs, Porches and many others. I really wanted to get out there with the Camry, there was a gate right there but of course it was locked. We watched for a while then continued on.
Back up the other side of the lake. The highlights of this side were a great little farm market/cheese shop, a roadside waterfall and 3 Brothers Winery. There are 3 wineries and a microbrewery here and it was a great way to end our tour. Buffalo NY was our next destination. We decided to find a place outside of the city and Karen began her Hotwire search. We landed a Holiday Inn Express again, in Batavia. About an hour later we were there. We found a great local restaurant, Alex's Place just down the road. What a a fantastic meal. There were cars from all over (including some from NH) in the parking lot. Apparently the secret on this place got out. Time to settle in for the night....We shuffle off to Buffalo tomorrow!!!!!!